Device for automatically substituting empty bobbin tubes for charged bobbins in ring spinning and twisting machines

ABSTRACT

CHARGED BOBBINS ON A ROW OF SPINDLES IN A SPINNING MACHINE ARE AUTOMATICALLY REPLACED IN SUCCESSION BY EMPTY BOBBIN TUBES BY MEANS OF A DEVICE WHICH IS MOVED PROGRESSIVELY ALONG THE FRONT OF THE ROW OF SPINDLES CARRIAGES ARE MOVED ON THE DEVICE AROUND A CLOSED VERTICAL PATH IN THE FORM OF AN ISOSCELES TRAPEZIUM WITH ITS SHORTER BASE UPPERMOST, EACH CARRIAGE HAVING A PAIR OF PIVOTED ARMS WHICH RESPECTIVELY REMOVE CHARGED BOBBINS   AND FIT EMPTY BOBBIN TUBES ON RESPECTIVE SAID SPINDLES AS THE CARRIAGES ASCEND AND DESCEND RESPECTIVELY. THE MOVEMENT OF THE CARRIAGES AROUND THE PATH IS SYNCHRONISED WITH THE MOVEMENT OF THE DEVICE AS A WHOLE, THE LENGTH OF THE UPPER HORIZONTAL RUN OF THE PATH BEING SUCH THAT THE RESPECTIVE ARMS ARE ALIGNED DURING OPERATION WITH THE RESPECTIVE SPINDLES.

March 2, 1971 FOGUO PARA 3,566,597

DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY SUBSTITUTING EMPTY BOBBIN TUBES FOR CHARGED BOBBINS IN RING SPINNING AND TWISTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 5, 1968 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 2, 1971 FOGLIO R 3,566,597

DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY SUBSTITUTING EMPTY BOBBIN TUBES FOR CHARGED BOBBLNS IN RING SPINNING AND TWISTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 5, 1968 '7 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 2, 1971 F. FOGLIO PARA DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY SUBSTITUTING EMPTY BOBBIN TUBES FOR v CHARGED BOBBINS IN RING SPINNING AND TWISTING MACHINES '7 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 5, 1968 F.- FOGLIO PARA 3,566,597

ING EMPTY BOBBIN TUBES FOR CHARGED BOBBLNS IN RING SPINNING AND TWISTING MACHINES 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 March 2, 1971 DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY SUBSTITUT Filed Dec. 5, 1968 INVENTOR ATTORNEY March 2, 1971 FOGLIQ PARA 3,566,597

DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY SUBSTITUTING EMPTY BOBBIN TUBES FOR CHARGED BOBBLNS IN RING SPINNING AND TWISTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 5, 1968 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENT OR ATTORNEY March 2, 1971 FOGLIQ A 3,566,597

DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY SUBSTITUTING EMPTY BOBBIN TUBES FOR CHARGED BOBBINS IN RING SPINNLNG AND TWISTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 5, 1968 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 VT-7* as l o 26 s v 4b 25 4b F INVENTOR ATTORNEY March 2, 1971 F. FOGLIO PARA 3,566,597

DEVICE FOR AUTOMATICALLY SUBSTITUTING EMPTY BOBBIN TUBES FOR CHARGED BOBB1NS IN RING SPINNING AND TWISTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 5, 1968 7 Sheets-Sheet '7 INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent Q Italy Filed Dec. 5, 1968, Ser. No. 781,323 Claims priority, application Italy, Jan. 26, 1968, 50,289/ 68, Patent 825,727 Int. Cl. D0111 9/10 US. Cl. 57-53 18 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Charged bobbins on a row of spindles in a spinning machine are automatically replaced in succession by empty bobbin tubes by means of a device which is moved progressively along the front of the row of spindles. Carriages are moved on the device around a closed vertical path in the form of an isosceles trapezium with its shorter base uppermost, each carriage having a pair of pivoted arms which respectively remove charged bobbins and fit empty bobbin tubes on respective said spindles as the carriages ascend and descend respectively. The movement of the carriages around the path is synchronised with the movement of the device as a whole, the length of the upper horizontal run of the path being such that the respective arms are aligned during operation with the respective spindles.

This invention relates to devices for automatically substituting empty bobbin tubes for charged bobbins in ring spinning and twisting machines.

A known device for automatically substituting empty bobbin tubes for charged bobbins in ring spinning and twisting machines comprises a frame movably guided along the front of the spinning machine and provided with a plurality of pairs of operating members which are moved around the frame over a path in the form of an isosceles triangle. The respective members of each pair perform by a combination of two movements, partial stripping of a charged bobbin from a machine spindle and fitting of an empty bobbin tube on the previously stripped spindle, respectively.

An object of the present invention is to provide improvements in such devices, enabling the devices to be used in association with any type of spinning machine, including those in which the clearance above the row of spindles is small. For example, in some machines the clearance above the spindles is little more than the length of a bobbin tube and may in some cases be smaller than the bobbin tube length.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a device capable of smooth and reliable operation without risk of damage to the spinning machine in the event of malfunctioning or failure of the device.

The device according to the present invention comprises a movable frame guided for movement along the front of the spinning machine parallel to said row of spindles, a plurality of carriages movable in a vertical plane parallel to said row around a path on said frame having equally inclined ascending and descending portions interconnected at their upper ends by a horizontal portion, a respective pair of pivoted arms mounted on each respective carriage for transverse rocking movement relative thereto about axes parallel to the direction of frame movement, the respective arms of each said pair being adapted respectively to effect stripping of a charged bobbin from a said spindle and fitting of 3,566,597 Patented Mar. 2, 1971 an empty bobbin tube on a stripped spindle in automatic sequence upon movement of the respective carriage around said path.

Preferably the carriages are maintained upright during their movement over the operative parts of said path, that is, the ascending, horizontal and descending portions of said path. The necessary change in orientation of each carriage then takes place during movement over the lowermost part of the path, during which the carriages are inoperative.

The length of the horizontal portion of the path is preferably such in relation to the inclination to the horizontal of the inclined portions that the relative positions of the carriages and the spindles during movement thereof over the ascending and the descending portions respectively are different and are such that the bobbinstripping arms are aligned with respective said spindles during ascending carriage movement and the tube fitting arms are aligned with respective said spindles during descending carriage movement.

In order to facilitate withdrawal of a charged bobbin from and fitting of an empty bobbin tube on the spindles without interfering with components of the spinning machine disposed above the spindles, the pairs of pivoted arms are capable of rocking movement with respect to the respective carriage about a common axis of rotation, the position of which is appropriately selected. Moreover, each of the pivoted arms preferably carries at its free end gripping means which are resiliently mounted on said arms to facilitate the stripping and fitting operations, while avoiding interference with components of the spinning machine. The gripping means gradually displace the bobbin or tube with respect to the spindle as withdrawal of the bobbin or fitting of the tube proceeds.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description, given by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a device according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, employed in connection with a spinning frame;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic elevational view of the device shown in FIG. 1, the frame of the device being shown in broken outline only;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the device, some only of the carriages being shown, for the sake of clarity;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are front elevational views, on an enlarged scale, of the device as shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing parts of the device, with particular reference to the arm-operating cams on the frame of device;

FIG. 7 is an end view of the device, with particular reference to the guide means for guiding the movement of the device with respect to the spinning frame and to the means for driving the carriages; and

FIGS. 8, 9 and 10 are respectively a front elevation, an end view, and a perspective View of one of the carriages and its associated arms.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, A denotes generally a part of a ring spinning machine having arranged along its front, which is of considerable length, a row of evenly spaced vertical spindles F. Cardboard bobbin tubes T are fitted on respective spindles F and receive thread to form respective bobbins S on each tube T.

The device according to the invention automatically removes from sucessive spindles F the fully charged bobbins S and replaces on the spindles F empty bobbin tubes T, whereby in operation the spinning machine winds successive bobbins on the spindles F of said row.

The device is carried by a flat upright frame 1 guided by lower and upper longitudinal guides G1, G2 (FIG. 7) carried by the spinning frame so as to perform continuous movement in the direction of the arrow 1a parallel to the row of spindles F. The frame 1 carries a top container 2 for the empty bobbin tubes T and. a bottom container 3 for the charged bobbins S (FIG. 3).

The frame 1 carries a pair of endless link chains 4, indicated by a chain-dotted line in FIG. 2, which move around a closed path in a vertical plane. The path is in the form of an isosceles trapezium having its small base uppermost. The chains 4 are moved continuously in the direction of the arrow 4a, by means hereinafter described, at a speed synchronized with the forward speed of the frame 1. The chains 4 include evenly spaced special links 4b (FIGS. 8 and 10) to which carriages 5 are articulated. The carriages 5, one of which is shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and -10, each carry a pivoted arm 6 adapted to strip a charged bobbin 6 from a said spindle F, and a pivoted arm 7 adapted to fit an empty bobbin tube T from the con tainer 2 on the previously stripped spindle F. The bobbins S removed by the arms 6 are deposited in the container 3.

The combination of the forward movement of the device in direction 1a and of movement of the chains 4 in the direction 4a is such that the carriages 5, when moving over the equally inclined ascending and descending portions of the closed path, maintain their relative positions to the spindles F horizontally while performing vertical movements with respect to the spindles F.

The upper horizontal portion of the chain path is of accurately selected length to cause the tube fitting arms 7 to keep aligned with respective spindles F on the spinning frame over the descending portion of the path, while the bobbin-stripping arms 6 are kept aligned with the spindles F over the ascending portion of the path. Thus the two arms 6, 7 are staggered in the direction of frame movement In by a distance b (FIG. 2) and the length of the upper horizontal portion of the chain path is so chosen in relation to the inclination of the two inclined portions that a relative horizontal displacement of b takes place 'between each carriage 5 and the spindles F as the carriages -5 move from the ascending to the descending portion of said path.

A single electric motor 8 (FIG. 3) drives the chains 4 by way of a reduction gear connected to sprocket wheels 9 over which the chains 4 pass. The motor 8 also drives, through a chain and sprocket drive 10, an endless chain 11 having links formed with projections 12 which, in a lower horizontal run of the chain 11, engage in holes 13 bored in the bottom guide G1 to propel the device along the guide G1 in the direction 1a. The spacing of the holes 13 and projections 12 is the same as that of the spindles F.

Each carriage 5 has two depending side walls each provided with four rollers 14, 15, 16, 17 (FIG. rotatable about horizontal axes perpendicular to the direction of frame movement 1a. The rollers 14-17 are adapted to cooperate with guides on the frame 1 in order to keep the carriages 5 upright or vertically oriented over the ascending and descending portions and the upper horizontal portion of the chain path.

The frame 1 has an inclined section defining the ascending portion of the chains path and formed with a grooved guideway 18 (FIG. 4) engaging the diagonally opposite rollers 15 and 17 on each carriage 5, the rollers 14, 16 of each carriage 5 being ineffective. Over an oppositely-inclined frame section defining the descending path portion a hollow rectilinear guideway 19 (FIG. 5) is provided engaging the diagonally opposite rollers 14, 16 of each carriage 5, the rollers 15 and 17 being then inefiective.

A grooved guideway 20 is provided along a bottom section of the frame 1 and engages the rollers 15, 17 of each carriage 5. The horizontal to portion of the chain path is defined by a horizontal top frame section formed with a double guideway 21, 22 (FIGS. 4 and 5) in which the pair of bottom rollers 16, 17 and the pair of top rollers 14, 15 respectively of each carriage 5 are engaged. Suitable merging and inlet sections between the guide ways 21, 22 enable the carriages 5 to be smoothly transferred between guideways at the upper apices of the trapezium-shaped path.

At the merging region between the inclined guideway '19 and bottom guideway 20 a suitably shaped cam 23 (FIG. 5) is provided which engages a roller 25 carried by a bottom extension 26 (FIG. 10) on each carriage 5, in order to change the orientation of the carriage 5 with respect to the chain 4 at the end of its downward run. The carriages 5 resume accurately the vertical orientation required at the start of their next ascending run, assisted by a suitably shaped cam 24 (FIG. 4) between the guideways 20, 18.

Referring to FIGS. 8 to 10, each carriage 5 carries on its upper surface a longitudinally-extending pivot shaft 27 upon which the bobbin-stripping arm 6 and tube-fitting arm 7 are rotatably mounted. Associated springs, not shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, bias both arms 6, 7 in the direction of the arrow 28 by moving each arm away from its vertical, inoperative position (in which the arm 7 is shown) to its operative, downwardly inclined position (in which the arm 6 is shown).

Each bobbin-stripping arm 6 carries at its free end a gripper 29 articulated about a pivot 30 at the end of the arm and biassed towards the arm 6 by a spring 31. Each gripper 29 includes a rigid portion and a movable portion 29a rotatable about a pivot 32 and biassed towards the rigid portion by a torque spring (not shown) surrounding the pivot 32. At least one spike 33 is arranged within the gripper 29 (FIG. 8) and is adapted to enter the thread on a gripped bobbin 6 to prevent any axial displacement thereof relative to the gripper 29.

Similarly. each tube-fitting arm 7 is provided at its free end with a gripper 34 articulated about a pivot 35 and biassed towards the arm 7 by a spring 36. Each gripper 34 is provided with a spring portion 34a (FIG. 8) rotatable about a pivot 35a. The gripper 34 is provided internally with strips of material having a high friction coefiicient in order to prevent a gripped bobbin tube T from slipping axially out of the gripper 34. The gripper 34 has an extension arm 34c by which rocking movement of the portion 34a about the pivot 35a may be effected, the arm 34c carrying a roller 37 at its free end.

Each carriage 5 also carries a bell-crank lever 38 pivoted at 39 about an axis parallel to the shaft 27 and located between the arms 6, 7. The lever 38 carries on one arm a cross member 40 (FIG. 10) extending parallel to the shaft 27 and adapted to engage the arms 6, 7. The other arm of the bell-crank lever 38 carries a roller 41 and a sector arm 42.

A pivoted latch 43 is further mounted on each carriage 5 and carries a roller 44. The latch 43 cooperates with and is adapted to engage releasably a tooth 6a on the stripping arm 6. A further pivoted latch 45 is mounted on the opposite side of the carriage 5 and is adapted to engage releasably a tooth 7a on the tube-fitting arm 7. A roller 46 is fixed to the latch 45.

Each stripping arm 6 moves from its vertical, inoperative position to its operative downwardly-tilted position shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 by rotating with respect to the carriage 5 at the beginning of its ascending run over the guideway 18 (FIG. 4). The respective gripper 29 comes into contact with a bobbin 6 which is gripped and held. During the ascending movement of the carriage 5, coupled with the simultaneous forward movement of the frame 1 over the longitudinal guides G1, G2 on the spinning frame, the arm 6 gradually removes the charged bobbin S from one of the spindles F, as seen in FIG. 3. Stripping is completed at the top of the inclined guideway 18. The arm 6 then resumes its upright, inoperative position and places its respective bobbin S in a horizontal position, the

arm 7 on the same carriage being simultaneously lowered into its operative position after having received a bobbin tube T from the container 2 during the ascending run of the carriage 5.

During the descending movement of the carriage 5 over the guideway 19 the bobbin S carried by the stripping arm 6 is gradually released from the gripper 29 under the action of an inclined ramp 47 of shallower inclination than the guideway 19, FIG. 3. The bobbin S, when released from the grippers 29, rolls over the ramp 47 into the container 3. As the arm 7 is lowered into its operative position the empty tube T in its respective .gripper 34 is gradually fitted over a spindle F from which a bobbin S has just been removed. 'At the bottom of the descending run each arm 7 is raised to its upright, inoperative, position.

In operation of the device the above sequence of operations is uninterruptedly repeated for each pair of arms 6, 7 carried by the carriages 5 as the device is advanced along the front of the spinning machine, thereby substituting empty bobbin tubes T for charged bobbins on all the spindles F in turn.

Shaped cams 48, 49, 50, 51 and 52 (FIG. 6) are provided on the frame f the device for effecting and controlling the rocking movements of the arms 6, 7 and the co-ordinated operation of the latches 43, 45 and other components carried by the carriages 5.

An electromagnet 53, FIG. 4, is effective to displace, through a movable armature rod 54, a movable cam 55 from an inoperative to an operative position in order to render the device operative; when the electromagnet 53 is de-energised the device is inoperative.

At the beginning of the ascending run of a carriage 5 the roller 41 on the carriage is engaged by the cam 55 which releases the latch 43 from engagement with the tooth 6a on the stripping arm 6. The arm 6 thereupon rocks downwardly under the action of its biassing spring encircling the pivot 27. The shaped cam 48 (FIG. 6) engages and guides the arm 6 during this movement, which is thus performed gradually.

At the end of the ascending movement of the carriage 5 the roller 41 is returned by the cam 50. Since the roller 41 is securely fixed to the bell-crank lever 38 the latter is rocked so that the cross member 40 engages the stripping arm 6 and returns it to its upright position. When the bell-crank 38 is about to complete its rocking movement, the sector 42 and roller 46 abut, so that the latch 45 is released from engagement with the tooth 7a of the feed arm 7. The arm 7 is then free to perform downward movement towards its operative position under the action of its respective biassing spring.

By cooperating with the roller 37 carried by the gripper 34 on the feed arm 7 the cam 51 keeps the arm 7 in its correct position during descending carriage movement and prevents the arm 7 from lifting even in part only and disturbing correct operation of the device should the fitting of the bobbin tube T on a spindle F be opposed for any reason. Towards the end of the descending carriage movement the cam 52 engages the roller 41 and, through the bell-crank lever 38 and cross member 40 gradually returns the feed arm 7 to its upright position.

Referring to FIG. 3, the feed unit for delivering empty bobbin tubes T to the grippers 34 on the feed arms 6 comprises a chain conveyor provided with transversely extending blades 56, arranged at the bottom of a hopper 57 underlying the container 2 for the tubes T. A cradle support 58 is mounted at the discharge end of the conveyor 56. The cradle support 58 holds each successive empty tube T received from the conveyor 56 in a horizontal position until it is seized and removed by the grippers 34 on the feed arm 7 as the respective carriage 5 starts its ascending movement. The operation of this feed unit is synchronized with the movements of the chains 4 and the forward movement of the device by means of a sprocket chain indicated at 59 and driven from one of the sprocket wheels about which the sprocket chains 4 pass.

Referring to FIG. 9, the position of the pivot 27 about which the arms 6 and 7 are rocked is so selected that the path over which the bobbins S and tubes T move during stripping and fitting operations avoids any interference between the upper ends of the bobbins S and tubes T and fixed overhead components of the spinning machine, disposed above the spindles F, one of which is indicated at C in FIG. 9. Such components may for example comprise drawing cylinders with which certain spinning frames, more particularly for spinning wool, are equipped.

The resilient mounting of the respective grippers 29, 34 on the respective arms 6, 7 also assists in avoiding interference with said overhead components of the spinning machine. Thus the bobbins S and tubes T, respectively, leave a respective spindle F, or are fitted thereon, in an inclined position, as shownin FIG. 9, rather than in an upright position which would not be consistent with the provision of the said overhead components C. Orientation of the grippers 29 and 34 of the stripping and fitting arms 6, 7 varies progressively as removal of the bobbin S or fitting of the tube T, respectively, proceeds, through the resilient connection between the respective grippers and their respective arms 6, 7, permitting rocking movement about the pivots 30, 35 respectively.

The arms 6, 7 oscillate with respect to the carriage 5 in a transverse direction and not in a longitudinal plane. When about to operate the respective grippers 29, 34 are accurately aligned with the spindles F by effect of the longitudinal staggering in position of the arms 6, 7 of each pair by the distance b indicated diagrammatically in FIG. 2, as determined by the length of the horizontal top run of the trapezoidal carriage path in relation to the inclination of the inclined runs. The rigidity of the arms 6, 7 with respect to the carriage 5 in a longitudinal plane results in a simple and sturdy mechanical structure.

A considerable advantage associated with the device according to the invention is the possibility of stripping the bobbins and fitting the tubes in spinning machines in which the clearance above the spindles closely approximates the overall length of the bobbins and bobbin tubes, this clearance in some cases being slightly less than the bobbin tube length. This advantage results from the proper selection of the position of the pivotal axis of the arms 6, 7 and from the articulation of the respective grippers 29, 34 with respect to the arms 6, 7.

Should the device fail owing to damage or other causes, the arms 6, 7 remain in their inoperative, upright positions so that their respective grippers 29, 34 are not moved towards the spindles F on the spinning machine. This avoids any danger of damaging the spinning frame in the case of faulty operation of the device due to accidental causes.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device for automatically substituting empty bobbin tubes for charged bobbins on a row of vertical spindles in a ring spinning machine of the type having a frame, means for providing motion of said frame relative to the front of said spinning machine parallel to said row of spindles, an endless chain carried by said frame defining a closed path having a base parallel to said row and equally inclined ascending and descending sides, a plurality of carriages attached to said chain, a pair of pivoted arms mounted on each respective carriage for transverse rocking movement relative thereto, the first of said pair of pivoted arms being a bobbin stripping arm engageable with the full bobbin carried by the vertical spindle upon movement past the ascending side of said chain for lifting said full bobbin from its spindle as said carriages travel upwardly along said ascending side, and the second of said pair of pivoted arms being a tube fitting arm adapted to receive an empty tube for emplacement upon the spindle as said carriage travels downwardly along said descending sides, and means delivering empty tubes to said tube fitting arms and removing full bobbins from said bobbin-stripping arms, wherein'the first improvement is that said path defined by said endless chain has a horizontal portion connecting the upper ends of said equally inclined ascending and descending sides; and the second improvement is that the means for providing relative motion between said frame and the front of said row of spindles moves said frame while said row of spindles remains stationary.

2. Device as claimed in claim 1, in which guide means on said frame maintain the carriages upright during movement of the latter over the ascending, horizontal and descending portions of said path.

3. Device as claimed in claim 1 in which the pair of pivoted arms on each carriage are spaced apart in the direction of frame movement and have a common axis of rotation.

4. Device as claimed in claim 1 in which the length of the horizontal portion of the path is such in relation to the inclination to the horizontal of the inclined portions that the relative positions of the carriages and the spindles during movement thereof over the ascending and the descending path portions respectively are different and are such that the bobbin-stripping arms are aligned with respective said spindles during ascending carriage movement and the tube-fitting arms are aligned with respective said spindles descending carriage movement. 1

5. Device as claimed in claim 1, including gripping means carried at the free end of each of said pivoted arms and resiliently connected to said arms to facilitate the stripping and fitting operations, while avoiding interference with components of the spinning machine.

6. Device as claimed in claim 1, including cams arranged along said path guiding the arms of each carriage during rocking movement of said arms.

7. Device as claimed in claim 1, including spring means resiliently biassing each said arm towards the spindles of said row, respective latch devices releasably retaining said arms in inoperative positions and latchengaging means cooperating with respective cams along said path and effective to release respective said latch devices in a predetermined sequence as the respective carriages progress around said path.

8. Device as claimed in claim 1, in which each carriage is provided with a plurality of rollers rotatable about horizontal axes transverse to the direction of frame movement, and including respective guideways engaging some only of said rollers to guide the carriage during movement thereof over the ascendingand descending inclined path portions, and further including a horizontal guideway engaging all of said rollers for guiding the carriage along the upper horizontal path portion.

9. Device as claimed in claim 8, in which each carriage has two lateral side walls each provided with four said rollers, different respective pairs of which engage the respective guideways during movement of the carriage over the respective inclined path portions.

10. Device as claimed in claim 1 in which each carriage has on its face opposite the pivoted arms a fixed extension carrying a roller, and including a shaped cam at the end of the descending path portion engageable with said roller to cause a change in orientation of the carriage before the latter is returned to the start of the ascending path portion.

11. Device as claimed in claim 1 including a least one endless sprocket chain passing around said path to which the carriages are pivotally attached at equal intervals,

. 8 driving means effective to advance said chain around said path in synchronism with the movement of the frame,

and means, operable in synchronism with the said driving means, for feeding empty bobbin tubes to successive tubefitting arms.

12. Device as claimed in claim 11, including a single motor effecting the movement of the said at least one sprocket chain, the movement of the frame, and the operation of the bobbin tube feeding means.

13. Device as claimed in claim 1, including an endless track carried by the frame, means for effective movement of said track around a path including a horizontal run extending in the direction of frame movement, said track having a plurality of projections, and a guide formed with recesses in which said projections engage, during movement over the said horizontal run, said guide extending parallel to the row of spindles, the spacing of said projections and the corresponding recesses being equal to the center line spacing of the spindles.

14. Device as claimed in claim 1 including gripping means carried by respective tube-fitting arms, a fixed cradle support, a supply hopper, and means feeding empty bobbin tubes singly in succession from the supply hopper to the cradle support, from which the support tubes are removed by respective said gripping means, during movement of the carriages.

15. Device as claimed in claim 1 including an inclined ramp member juxtaposed to and of shallower inclination than the inclined descending ath portion, said ramp member being adapted to engage at its upper end successive charged bobbins carried by the bobbin-stripping arms and to release said bobbins from said arms as the respective carriages pass over the descending path portion, and a receptacle into which fall bobbins so removed.

16. Device as claimed in claim 1, in which the bobbinstripping arms carry gripping means provided with at least one spike which pierces a charged bobbin gripped by said gripping means to prevent axial displacement of said bobbin relative to said gripping means.

17. Device as claimed in claim 1 in which the bobbin tube fitting arms carry gripping means provided with an internal lining having a high coefficient of friction to prevent relative axial displacement of bobbin tubes gripped by said gripping means.

18. Device as claimed in claim 1, including a movable cam arranged in juxtaposition to said path on the frame, cam-follower elements on each respective carriage, the cam having an operative position in which it engages respective said follower elements on each successive carriage to initiate the sequence of operation of the respective pivoted arms carried thereby and an inoperative position in which it cannot engage said cam follower elements and in which said arms remain inoperative, and an electromagnetic actuator effective to move the said cam between its inoperative and its operative positions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,458,984 8/1969 Dimitrov 57-53 3,307,340 3/1967 Nishii et al. 57-53 FOREIGN PATENTS 972,123 10/1964 Great Britain 57-53 585,377 11/1958 Italy 57-53 JOHN PETRAKES, Primary Examiner UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 566 1 597 Dated March 2, 1971 InVentm-(S) Francesco Foglio Para.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In the specification, Column 1, line 6, change the name of the assignee from "Fessili" t0--Tessi1i--.

Signed and sealed this 22nd day of June 1 971 (SEAL) Attest:

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM PO-IOSO (10-69) 

